Huge Google Pixel 3 XL leak shows details, specs, unboxing, and more

Huge Google Pixel 3 XL leak shows details, specs, unboxing, and more

A huge Pixel 3 XL leak hit the Web today, thanks to the Telegram channel Канал Лучкова. The channel posted images and video of a pre-release Pixel 3 XL unboxing, including information about specs, how the notch works, and in-box accessories.

Everything lines up with what we’ve previously heard about the Pixel 3 XL. For its flagship smartphone, Google is going with a notched design and an all-glass body. On the front, it still looks like there are two front-facing cameras; on the back, there seems to be a two-tone all-glass design, a fingerprint reader, and a single camera.

With the phone actually turned on and working, we get to learn a bit more about it. First, the notch design of the Pixel 3 XL looks like a mess. These pictures confirm that the notch is about twice as tall as other notch designs. It’s so large that it stretches out the status bar, making it thicker than normal, just like the Essential phone. Second, the notch takes up so much horizontal space that there’s only room for three notification icons in the status bar. Thanks to the way Android 9 Pie works, you usually get two actual icons and a third “overflow” icon indicating that you have more icons to look at.

Further Reading

Google Pixel 3 rumors: More pictures leak, hints of smart display dock surfaceOne of the pictures gives us a spec readout, which includes a 2960×1440 display, 4GB of RAM, and a Qualcomm SoC that looks like a match for the Snapdragon 845. For now, the OS is “Android 9,” although it would not be surprising to see that change to Android 9.1 in time for release—Google usually cooks up a x.1 release specifically for its phones. In the picture, you can see Android 9 Pie’s gesture navigation is turned on, which Google recently told Android Central would be the default for Pixels going forward.

In the box, we see a pair of ear buds that share a similar design to Google’s Pixel Buds, but they are wired (with USB-C) and lack the “G” logo on the outside. There seems to be a plastic box in the middle of the headphone cord, which might be for an in-line remote. We can also see a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle (there’s no built-in headphone jack), a USB-C to USB-A adapter for transferring information from another device, and the usual USB-C charging cable. In-box accessories can vary from country to country, so if you are that interested in pack-in Google headphones, make sure they come with the version shipping in your territory.

While the software is definitely unfinished, this is the closest-to-final hardware we’ve seen of the Pixel 3 XL. It’s the first one we’ve seen with the Google “G” logo on the back instead of the prototype logo we’ve seen on every other Pixel 3 XL. There are still a few unanswered questions. What is the final software going to be like? What are the dual front cameras for? Face unlock? A front portrait mode? Stereo vision and augmented reality? We’re also wondering if rumors of a smart display dock will come true.